Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in general have increasingly been relegated to commoditized bit-pipes that carry Internet traffic from the end-user to different portals and websites on the World Wide Web. Despite the dotcom bust, surviving companies such as Yahoo, Amazon, Ebay and Google are thriving. However, ISPs have been largely kept out of this business. It may be too late for ISPs to compete with the likes of Yahoo, Amazon, Ebay and Google.
Conventional public Wi-Fi hotspot controllers have experimented with Point-of-Sale (POS) advertising on the user's screen using several technologies/means including (1) unsolicited pop-up windows; and (2) URL redirection, whereby the end-user, upon starting up the web browser, is redirected to a login page that typically contains advertising for the location owner. The first method is annoying to users. The second method is minimally intrusive to users, but the advertising appears only once, unless the user is redirected to the login page at regular intervals—which after a while may offend the user.
It would be advantageous to provide a means for an ISP or other entity to insert content into web pages before they are provided to a web browser, such that content separate from the requested web page is presented to a user. Such means would permit ISPs or other entities to provide e-commerce, advertising or other services that are integrated with the presentation of content provided to the user.